ID Governor Opposes Pension Fund's Sudan
Divestment

An Idaho Statesman news report said Otter
articulated his position in a letter to University of
Idaho sophomore Travis Thompson, president of the
school’s Student Anti-Genocide Coalition, which is
pushing for the state divestment.”While divestment in
these companies might send a symbolic message, it will
not have a direct effect on the situation in Darfur,”
Otter wrote.

He noted that the pension plan offers a “Sudan Free
fund … available for those employees who wish to
exercise their own moral convictions.”

The Statesman said the $11.4-billion Public Employee
Retirement System of Idaho (PERSI) has about $23 million
invested in six companies that do business in Sudan – about
0.2% of the fund’s assets.
PERSI covers about 115,000 public
employees of 700 employers.